Characteristics of patients who made gains at a geriatric day hospital

The charts of patients who attended a geriatric day hospital (DH) over a 16-month period were reviewed retrospectively (n = 112). Home visits were conducted on consenting patients who made gains (either functional, psychosocial or medical) according to the chart review; they (and/or their caregivers) were questioned about what gains were made at the DH and whether these gains were still present. Initial gains (n = 77, or 69%) were gains identified by chart review, and confirmed by patients at the home visit (when a home visit was possible). Patients who had home visits performed (n = 58) were further classified as to if they had persistent gains or not. Measurements of mood, function, cognition, mobility, balance, and medications were also collected. Patients were defined as having had persistent gains if they relayed gains were still present and, when a gain was measurable (e.g., mobility), there had to be objective evidence of persistent improvement. Backwards elimination modeling using logistic regression analyses was conducted to look for characteristics of patients who made initial gains and had persistent gains. In gender-adjusted analyses, people with cardiac conditions (p = 0.006) or depression (p = 0.047) were most likely to make initial gains whereas those with dementia were less likely to make initial gains (p = 0.005). There were no statistically significant associations (p < 0.05) found between any of the variables examined and the likelihood of having persistent gains. This study suggests that certain types of patients may be more likely to benefit, at least initially, from a DH program.